Wesley's Blessing Day

Wesley was blessed on super bowl Sunday!! With June, we decided to have a blessing at home (at the farm) because it's more close-knit and less nerve-wracking for me. It's hard trying to figure out a good time when the baby is going to be sleeping and then do it . . . but at home, we can do it whenever the baby is ready! With both babies so far, it's worked out perfectly! Wesley slept so well during it. Personally, babies not crying helps me feel the spirit a little bit more ha.

Since I'm writing this way after the fact, I thought I'd share a sweet story about Wesley and Pops. Pops was holding baby boy in church on the same Sunday, fast Sunday, and after he gave Wesley back to me, he went up to the stand to bear his testimony. I don't remember exactly what he said but it was to the effect of Wesley is really blessed to have so many people who love him, especially men that have continued to follow the gospel as they have gotten older. If he's ever in need of guidance or encouragement, he has so many amazing men to look up to. It's hard to imagine Wesley, or any of my children, ever straying away from the gospel or our family. It made me think, what can I do better to help my children want to stay with me and do good things?

Everyone came to the farm at a great time and we were able to do the blessing in a really smooth way. I had Megan take some pictures of our family beforehand and then during the blessing, Wesley slept while being rocked. I'm sure it felt like heaven. Jake gave a really sweet, genuine blessing. It's always so crazy to me how eloquent he can be in such a small amount of time. I feel like I need to prepare even for a prayer, but he can just go out there and put tears in everyone's eyes!

We really are so lucky to have an amazing family and such wonderful children. Adding Wesley to our family has rocked my world in so many ways, I'm glad that I have help everywhere I look to get me through the tricky times. We love our Wesley more than words can say - so happy he chose us!

Here are some pictures, completely unedited, from Wesley's special day!

Ben to Singapore!

Ahh, it's been a bittersweet week for a lot of reasons! First, June and I just got back from Kansas where we were visiting for Lisette's college graduation (more on that later). Second, it's the last week of school . . . ever! I'll never have to sit in a classroom again, write a research paper again, or ever give a presentation again! I'm so excited but it's also weird because . . . what am I going to do with my time now!? Haha. And third, because Ben and Ralph were visiting this week to take Ben to the Provo MTC. We are so, SO proud of Ben, but we are also sad to see him go and be away from our family for 2 years. We know that he will be well taken care of and really hope he will enjoy his time there learning Chinese and serving the people of Singapore!

Today, I woke up and went to work at the warehouse. I just started this week and it's been pretty good so far- but the learning curve is pretty steep if I'm being honest! Haha. I left a little early so I could spend time with Ben and Ralph before they both had to leave and as I was leaving, it was snowing and sticking like nobody's business. I was shaking the entire drive home. I'm so glad we bought new tires!

When I got home, everyone had eaten breakfast and they were just hanging out. Bob was in town for some work so he was there too, it was a party! We finished up some of Ben's laundry and then the Mauldins came over and brought Waffle Love - so good. After they left, it was nice to have just the 4 and 1/2 of us hanging out together. It's just a weird feeling - knowing this is the last time you'll see a person for 2 years . . . What do you say?! What do you talk about?!

We drove to the MTC with his bags in tow, parked, and walked out to take a couple of pictures. Ralph and Ben had a really genuine hug, and it was really sad to watch them part. You really could feel the love, and it seemed like Ralph never wanted that hug to end.

When we walked him over to the actual building, they are pretty strict and you can only walk to the gate. If you want to go in, you have to drive in, so we were saying our goodbyes at the most awkward spot but it was probably for the best. I got some super cute pictures of Ben, June, and Jake and I'm excited to look back on them in a couple years when he returns home.

I am really proud of Ben for serving a mission. I can only imagine how hard it is to make the decision to serve a mission, let alone actually do it. He is a great example for our little family. I'm excited to hear his stories and watch how his mission helps shape him. I'm also excited to hear him speak Chinese. I know he is going to be great.

We can't wait to see him in 2 years! xoxo

June's Blessing Day

June was blessed by her dad on July 8, 2018! It was such a stressful day trying to get everyone together after church, but it turned out great and Jake did such an amazing job! It was thoughtful, sweet, and just perfect for our little June.

We decided to do her blessing at home, but in Cincinnati, so we could feel tight knit and close with our family. We tried to make it as low key as possible but it's hard to make things stress free and low key with so many family members. I'm not sure if we'll do our next baby's blessing at home, but we'll see. This one went pretty great and my heart was so full as I was listening to Jake!

We got lucky with her taking a nap on Jake at the time that everyone got to the farm and we were ready to start. He gently moved her over to be held by all the men and they all gave her some gentle shakes. As she was waking up, Jake had began talking and I watched June's little eyes moving around at everyone in the circle - looking at her dad, grandpa, great grandpas, and uncles. It was the sweetest thing and I was SO HAPPY she was not crying. It felt like such a win!

I cried, of course, because that's what I do with all things having to do with June. I just hope that she grows up to be confident and happy in her body and in her mind.  I hope she asks questions when she wants answers, stays strong in the Gospel, enjoys trying new things, is eager to learn, and loves on everyone. I have so many hopes for this little girl and I can't wait to continue watching her grow.

Another fun side thing was June got to wear the same blessing dress that her cousins Stella and Lucy wore. It fit her perfectly even though she's a chunky 4 month old girl and I was loving the way she looked in the little bonnet. She is the sweetest girl - I can't believe how lucky we are that we get to be her parents.

I Talk In Church Part 2 (For Olivia)

I grew up going to church with my family. We attended a church called Fellowship church which is technically a Southern Baptist church. My sisters and I were pretty active in their youth groups, we went to summer camps, and we always were bringing friends to their activities.

I remember that there was a church event at a waterpark called Hawaiian Falls. We were probably about 8 or 9 and all our church friends were going, so we did too. Randomly at Hawaiian Falls, in the middle of the activity, they had all these men get in the wave pool and there was a guy with a microphone outside of the pool saying that anyone that wanted to get baptized could come up and do that. I decided, “Why not? Couldn’t hurt.”

When I chose to do it, I went to let someone know, and they just had me swim out to the guys that were in the middle of the wave pool. I picked a random guy and he had a white rag with him. He talked to me a little bit -- about how to always remember that Jesus is my savior and that He loves me, and then that was it. He dunked me under the water and then when I came back up, there was clapping. Then I went back to my friends and that was that. After several more kids decided to get baptized that same day, we all went  back to playing. My mom wasn’t even there!

I think I stopped going to that church when I was 12 or 13. I just hadn’t progressed any in my life and I no longer looked forward to going to that church. I hadn’t met any friends that would stick with me throughout the years, and there weren’t any real growing opportunities if I stayed there.  There weren’t any hard feelings, I just knew there was more out there. So I was stagnant for a while; I wasn’t attending church even though a few friends had asked me to come with me to their different services. In April of 2010 I want to say, I had a boyfriend. He was Mormon. I had NO idea what this meant. We were young and we didn’t really know how to talk about religion with each other, anyway, but I took that word “Mormon” and learned as much as I could about it.

I started journaling about what I found. I wrote questions that I had that websites couldn’t answer. Looking back at that now, going to random websites about the church probably wasn’t the best idea but I didn’t know! So I kept at it. My friends made fun of me, but I had to know . . . in Coppell, there were a lot of different branches of Christianity, but I had seriously never heard of Mormonism.

When I was 14, I went to a stake dance with a friend who was also investigating the church. It was a New Year’s Eve dance, and during the dance she asked me if I’d go to church with her the next day. I was really nervous to do that, but I said yes . . . So the next day, I went to church. My mom dropped me off and after the first sacrament meeting, the missionaries swarmed to me. I don’t say that lightly . . . They had a bunch of questions.

I ended up meeting with them starting that week, once a week, for the next two years. For the first few months, they were literally just answering the questions that I had written down in that journal. And then after that, I took all the lessons probably 6 or 7 times over. And each lesson, they’d ask me if I was ready to get baptized yet. I’d say no and that I’d tell them when, but they were impatient. Missionaries had gone home and gotten married before I decided to get baptized, yet I was still taking lessons and attending church every week . . . They didn’t get it!

These two years were really critical for me because I was learning and doing all the things I wish I would have done earlier. I was reading the Book of Mormon, I was praying ALL THE TIME, I was staying out of trouble, attending church and mutual -- I was doing all these good things that made me feel happy and gave me purpose.

There were moments in the church that I used to go to that I felt the spirit. I know there were good things being done there that were very necessary for me during those times, but this church has always given me more, yet so simply. I’ve had prayers answered, I have felt included and important, I have felt God’s love and I’ve learned how His timing is always the best timing.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t experience a lot of hardship in those two years though. There were a lot of people in school who didn’t agree with what I was doing and they would make that very well known. They would ask me the craziest questions and tell me the craziest things about MY  church; one they had never stepped foot in. But I had so many people supporting me at church, that it all didn’t matter.

A lot of people would ask me why I wasn’t baptized yet, or what the heck was taking so long? I’d kind of laugh and then just change the subject; I was going to get baptized when I was ready! But overall, the friends I had made at church, would just show me a lot of love. They would invite me over for dinner, they’d let the missionary discussions be at their house, they’d make sure I felt included at mutual, they made sure I could go to girl’s camp, and so much more. There was never a time where I didn’t feel like that’s where I was supposed to be, and it was all because of the people that were around me.

In one of my YSA wards, I was sitting in relief society and the President shared with us that there was one girl in our apartment complex who didn’t want to come to church because she didn’t feel welcome. When we found that out, there were so many girls who went out of their way to make that specific girl feel welcome.

What I’ve learned over the past 4 years of being a member of this church is that this Gospel is one of love and kindness. To me, that makes the Gospel so simple: if we love God and we love each other, we’ve got at least something figured out. If we remember our simple gospel principles, I think we will be happier people.

_______________________________________________________________

There’s a family from my hometown that I think about often. They were not married, neither of them had a job, and they had just had twin babies about a month into teaching them. The sisters asked me to teach with them a few times after I was just baptized, so I went. The mother of the babies was an inactive member of the church, so she was familiar with the process.

This is the first family we saw, and they were facing some serious hardships. They had no insurance, and one of their babies had to have a small surgery. Not only that, but they didn’t even have a car to take the children to the hospital. They had been relying on other people for a lot of their needs, and it turns out they were hiding the worst of it from us.

I remember it was about 2 or so weeks from the first time they were taught and the mom called me. She was a wreck because she had learned they were getting evicted from their apartment; they hadn’t been able to pay rent. I drove over to their apartment and I took the babies for the entire day so they could figure out where they were going to stay that night. I returned them that night and talked to the mom to see what they had figured out. She told me that they had decided they were going to be together anymore and it was best for her to move in with her family.

I stayed in touch with her and I saw how her life changed. She kept attending church, with her two babies in tow. She was taught every week by the missionaries. She and her family formed a greater relationship than they ever had before. She got a job. She seemed so much happier.

I think the most important part of her story, the part that I love, is that she flourished when people showed her love, kindness, and friendship. She had strayed from the Gospel and she felt that she wasn’t going to be welcomed back. She felt that she had been too far gone for too long to come back. She felt like she had made too many mistakes for people to love her anymore. She wasn’t content with her life, but she didn’t know how to make the change, and the sisters showed her how. They cared for her, they helped her cook meals, they showed her they loved her. I was able to form a friendship with her, take care of her babies, attend their first birthday party.

She didn’t need to be converted again, she just needed to be included. She just needed some love.

_______

Testimony. Crying. All the good stuff.

SISTER GENTRY IS HOME

Happy. freaking. day. My best friend is home from her mission!

Samantha and I met our freshman year of college by chance. We happened to be living in the same apartment, and for some reason, we got close REAL fast. And I am so grateful for her!

Fast forward a little while and it was the summer of 2015 and Sam had put in her papers to serve a mission. I always knew she wanted to serve a mission, I just never thought it would come so fast! Naturally, the weekend she got her call I had gone home to Texas. But I do remember that someone had Facetimed me while she was opening her call and I was sitting outside of Anamia's listening. I couldn't quite catch it and I texted several people afterwards saying, "WHERE? WHERE IS SHE GOING?" I was like her stalker boyfriend.

Several months later, it was time for her to go. I was able to fly up to Utah (Thanks Kurt and Cate) to listen to her farewell talk and celebrate her birthday! It was such a fun weekend reuinted with Sam and Courtney again... And we didn't even cry!

Then, I was in San Antonio with the McDade girls, at the pool, when she was hours away from entering the MTC. I had FaceTimed Walker and told him just to nonchalantly walk by Samantha so I could say bye . . . again. She was already a missionary, so we had to be sneaky. ;) We said our goodbyes and I truly hoped that the next 18 months would go by so fast.

We emailed pretty much every Sunday she was gone, although there were many Sundays we didn't catch each other right at the same time so instead of chatting back and forth, they were just simple emails. A few times I was with her family, her dad joked that Samantha always emailed me before she emailed him, and if I could please stop emailing her so much so she'd have time for her family. Hahaha. But I couldn't help it. . . I wanted Sam to know every detail in my life!

It was so fun hearing every detail of hers too. Well, the emails did get shorter and shorter, but it was really cool to watch the Lord work within her . . . He really knew what He was doing when He sent her to the Philippines, because when she was called, that was maybe the last place she wanted to be. Now it's the only place she wants to be. :)

A lot of growth happened on both our ends when she was gone! I met and married Jake, growing spiritually in so many ways I didn't think possible. . . and she taught amazing people, learned a new language, and strengthened her testimony (and so much more). While sometimes I felt like my best friend had been taken away from me for WAY too long, I know how much good has come from it. . .

But, with that being said . . . I am SO grateful she's home. Seriously! It was a fun countdown after we got married and the time passed so fast. Her mom gave me the flight info and then suddenly we were at the airport waiting for her to come out! She took her sweet time of course, but it is always so fun welcoming a missionary home (which we had just done for Jake's brother a few weeks before). :)

Sam, Courtney, and I sat on the couch all snuggled up and Sam said, "The girls are back!" (or something to that effect). . . and that's exactly how I feel right now. So happy she served and is healthy, but so happy she's home to be a real, tangible friend again. Sam makes most everything more fun and she truly is hilarious. She's a loyal and kind friend . . . so, luckily, she's mine (and nobody else's or else I'll freak out, at least for a month). :)

Wedding: The Temple

You guys. Getting sealed in the temple has got to be the best thing life has to offer. The whole experience was seriously incredible! I had gotten endowed a few months before our sealing, so the week before we got married, we went to the Provo City Center temple to do sealings for the dead. That was an amazing experience! We listened to the blessings that are given to you by being faithful in your covenants over and over and got to experience what it'd feel like to get married... or so we thought!

The day of our wedding, we went to the temple at 9 am to get paperwork and what not filled out. We then went to separate dressing rooms to change and relax a little bit. Luckily for us, the Columbus Temple was not too busy, so we had a lot of quiet time and peace to ourselves. We stayed in the Celestial Room for quite some time together after speaking with the temple president as well as the man who would be sealing us! I can't remember what we talked about, but right before Brother Ralph took us in to the sealing room, Jake said, "I think I might cry." And I was feeling pretty cool, confident that I wouldn't cry and he said, "If I cry, you have to cry too otherwise it'll be weird."

When we walked into the sealing room and saw all of our family sitting there for us, I just lost it! Haha, it was so embarrassing but also it was okay. Beth got me several tissues and handed them to me. As we were sitting and listening to the sealer talk about the blessings of temple marriage before we got married, I was just crying. Luckily I wasn't sobbing, but there were steady tears... it was crazy! Everyone else must have been feeling it, too, because when I looked up, everyone else had tissues in their hands! The moments leading up to kneeling across from each other are so special and sacred to me. Has it really been a month since we did that?!

When we kneeled down across from each other, we were both just crying. It was such a spiritual, pure experience that I can't find words to describe it. I've tried to remember it perfectly so many times since that morning and I don't think that memory will ever go away. Jake and I had never been "mushy" or "lovey-dovey", but that morning we were. We were just so happy we were finally married!

After we left the sealing room, I went to change into my wedding dress and then we walked out together to everyone cheering. It was so special to see all the people who made the icy drive from Cincinnati. I was so warm in my dress, but I noticed other people around me were freezing, so we headed back to the farm. I could relive this morning over and over again.

This was right after Tracey slapped my butt. Hahahaha! I deserved it though, because my position in this picture is quite awkward for her... Hahaha, I have the best MIL ever. 

The Time I Went To The Temple

About five weeks ago, I went to my bishop requesting an interview to go through the temple. Jake and I had decided I would go through a month-ish before we were married so we could do a couple of sessions together and just get a little familiar and comfortable with it before our wedding day. This was also a good chance for Jake to get back into a schedule with the temple, since the closest one to his home in Cincinnati is about 2 hours away and where he served his mission, there was not one.

I completed a temple prep class, had my interviews, bought what I needed, and we went on Saturday! I chose the Draper Temple for no real reason. It's a beautiful temple and when I've been there before for baptisms, I remember feeling comfortable and extremely welcome. Not to mention, it's set pretty high up east off the highway so you really get this High-On-The-Mountain-Top kind of feeling.